What’s the most important thing about The Fall Guy?

Is it that Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have insane chemistry that helps drive the movie along? Is it the fact that “I Was Made For Loving You” by KISS is woven throughout the film with the actual song, a moody new cover, and also orchestral cues? Or maybe it’s the fact that the movie is just an exceptionally entertaining look at making movies and the underseen people on the set of movies. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, the stuntman for the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). After an unfortunate accident on set, Colt is out of the game, but he’s drawn back in by Gail (Hannah Waddingham), a producer for an upcoming movie directed by Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). What complicates things is that Jody and Colt previously had a relationship, but he ghosted her.

It ends up that Tom Ryder is missing and to save the movie, save Jody’s career, and save his own ass, Colt has to find Tom and get him back to set before the studio pulls the plug on the movie. It’s an ingenious concept that takes the audience through the entire process of making movies from the top down. It’s also a loose remake of the 1981 TV series The Fall Guy, and fans of that series are in for a bit of a treat during the film.

Director David Leitch might have actually lived some of the stories from this film as a stuntman. His career started as a stuntman for Brad Pitt and has now exploded into directing movies like this. His style is all over the film; if you’ve seen something like John Wick or Bullet Train, you know what to expect. The action scenes are absolutely massive and bombastic. If you’re expecting Colt to kick ass like John Wick, you’re only half right. Gosling plays the perfect everyman here, with whatever training he knows from being a stuntman coming in handy; but still fighting like someone who only knows how to be a crash test dummy.

Where The Fall Guy really shines is how it balances multiple genres and doesn’t ever feel overstuffed. Sure, the action is nice. It’s really great, it’s what gets the butts in the seats. However, the rom-com elements of The Fall Guy should not be understated. This is a fantastic romance story between Jody and Colt. The slower scenes between the two, being somewhat awkward, are extraordinarily personable and relatable.

For those that have been on a film set, any film set, you’ll get a kick out of The Fall Guy. It captures that frenetic magic of making movies. Every person on set is integral, even the stuntman. What you get is a film that is just so magnificently whimsical and fun that you can’t help but enjoy it. David Leitch combines the action and rom-com genres to make a film that’s stuffed with magic scenes.

That magic and whimsy translate to the biggest set pieces in the film; one involving an actual set piece being filmed in the explosive third act of the movie within the movie and another with a gargantuan payoff to Miami Vice jokes throughout the film. Those two are the highlights, but the whole film is chock full of immensely satisfying scenes.

For anyone who’s been down on their luck, who’s been kicked around by people in power, who’s had a horrific accident, who’s worked for a gigantic douchebag, The Fall Guy is for you. It’s the perfect blend of action and rom-com with more than a dash of high-octane stunts that should satisfy almost any audience member. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have immaculate chemistry in their roles that helps catapult The Fall Guy into the upper pantheon of action films.

The Fall Guy releases in theaters on May 3rd.

For more Reviews, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

Abigail – A Stunning Spectacle Of Blood And Laughs [Review]